Can we find a fit? (Fargo, Portland: fit in, sales, home)

[Briquewest]

Hi All,

Myself and my wife have been researching a relocation for almost a year now. We currently reside in Portland, OR. My roots are in the Pacific Northwest and Maine, hers are in Georgia and Maine. We have a 4 year old daughter that means the world to us. We moved from Maine to the Pacific Northwest when our daughter was born to be closer to family with her, but family out here is much too busy to spend much time with us and we are not fond of the way of life out here. We do miss Maine greatly, but the economy and cost of living there are too prohibitive for us to make a move that way. So, ND has been on our radar for some time with a leaning to Fargo. The winter climate does not pose too much of a challenge for us because of our years in Maine. While Maine has more snow and warmer winter temps than Fargo, I think we can muster the capacity to endure.

Now for the possibly challenging stuff. She is an Internet Sales Manager for a large import dealer out west here, and I work in underground utility/heavy equipment construction. I am sure the construction work is seasonal (like Maine), but does it exist pretty well when the winter breaks?

Is she likely to have an easy time working in the automotive industry out there, or does it run like the "Good 'ol boy" network of the south?

Finally, we are not secularly religious and do not attend church. We will likely send our daughter to a Lutheran based school, but more by means of wanting a fair, personal values based education and not by affiliation.

We are just decent people with a small family and wish to raise our daughter in a safe, decent area that still has good family core values.

Can we fit in?

[Corbay]

YOUUUU Betcha!

[Briquewest]

Originally Posted by Corbay

YOUUUU Betcha!

Hahaha, thanks, Corbay. I imagine we probably could too.

Any feedback on her fears of working there? IE: Does ND have much (if any) gender discrimination?

While nationally men make more than women in almost every field, the income separation seems quite high in ND. But we're not sure if thats a result of oil and farm workers tipping the balance.

[dutchinnd]

There are major heavy construction firms with HQ in Fargo--Industrial Builders is the first one that comes to mind. They work on a regional basis, so construction work doesn't always mean being home every night.
I can't find it right now, but I thought I had read an article that more women are moving into car sales positions. I really don't know much about the local dealerships, other than there has been some consolidation of dealers in recent years and some now have out of state ownership.
But values-wise--you're going to be just fine. Because overall the public schools are quite strong here, the families that I know who have their kids in private schools tend to be quite devout/evangelical, but that isn't a scientific sampling for sure.